[ddots-l] Re: question about monitoring

  • From: "Omar Binno" <omarbinno@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:45:33 -0500

Thanks alot for the detailed explanation, Tim. So while I had everything 
plugged into my mixer and not turning on input echo in sonar, the routing was 
taking place through the audio interface/mixer, and not through Sonar? But if 
that is the case, how come I could still hear effects if I inserted them on an 
audio track when playing the project?

Thanks.

Omar Binno

AIM: LOD1116
Skype: obinno1
Website: www.omarbinno.com
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Tim Burgess 
  To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 4:07 AM
  Subject: [ddots-l] Re: question about monitoring


  Hi Omar,

  OK, here's the deal:

  1 - Monitoring via the interface (known as hardware monitoring) means that
  you hear a copy of the signal that's coming into the interface from a mic,
  guitar, or whatever, without it being processed by your software.  The
  advantage of this is that there's no appreciable delay between what you hear
  yourself playing/singing and what comes back at you from the speakers/cans.
  The disadvantage is that you won't hear any FX processing that your DAW
  software is adding to the sound (a lot of singers like to ha a bit of reverb
  while they're recording and guitarists often don't find it easy to play
  their part "dry");

  2 - Software monitoring (like input echo in Sonar) allows you to hear the
  treated signal, so the guitarist can hear that monster noise from Amplitube
  and the singer can float away into the space created by a reverb plug-in.
  This can sometimes help the creative process, but very often introduces a
  small lag (called latency).  On a fast machine with a high-quality interface
  and good drivers it should be possible to reduce this delay to a point where
  nobody notices or, even if you can hear it, it's so small that nobody cares.
  However, if you can't reduce it to this level, for whatever reason, it can
  make tracking very difficult as it starts to affect your timing.  

  So, there's no right or wrong (as usual), it's just a case of finding what's
  appropriate for the instrument/artist you're dealing with and trying to tune
  your software to provide the necessary.  Hope that helps.

  Best wishes.

  Tim Burgess
  Raised Bar Ltd
  Phone:  +44 (0)1827 719822

  Don't forget to vote for improved access to music and music technology at

  http://www.raisedbar.net/petition.htm
   
  -----Original Message-----
  From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
  Behalf Of Omar Binno
  Sent: 22 January 2009 07:49
  To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Subject: [ddots-l] question about monitoring

  Okay, this is a very rudimentary question. Until now, my studio setup has
  included using a mixer and an audio interface with sonar. However, I'm now
  switching to just using an audio interface as a stand-alone, without a
  mixer. I will be using the RME Fireface 800. The question now arises: should
  I do my input monitoring through sonar, or through the audio interface. My
  knowledge is rather foggy as to exactly what monitoring is used for. So
  first, what is monitoring, and second, when using an audio interface without
  a mixer, is it preferable to do the monitoring through the interface, or
  through sonar.
   
  Thank you for any and all input.
   
   
  Omar Binno
   
  AIM: LOD1116
  Skype: obinno1
  Website: www.omarbinno.com

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